


The Adventure We Call Life

by churkey



Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Arranged Marriage, Artificial Intelligence, Baking, Childhood Friends, De-Aged Derek Hale, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Full Shift Werewolves, Growing Up Together, Insomnia, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Sterek Bingo 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24146404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/churkey/pseuds/churkey
Summary: Derek remembers the first time he scented Stiles.Stiles thought that Derek really was the bestest friend he could have.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1732879
Comments: 21
Kudos: 444





	The Adventure We Call Life

**Author's Note:**

> I debated whether or not to include the prompt headers, but decided to do it.
> 
> It was a fun challenge trying to get a coherent story out of the prompts. I kept writing angst into it but I wanted to keep it fluffy. I hope I smoothed out all of the inconsistencies.
> 
> This is my Ultimate Sterek Bingo 2020 Fic. I'll probably write a few longer ones depending on the prompt and how inspired I feel.

### Neighbours

Derek remembers the first time he scented Stiles.

The house down the lane had been empty for a while. As much as werewolves were known and there was peace between them and humans, most humans didn’t want to rent a house on pack lands. Or, really, to live in a wolf controlled territory.

So Derek had been surprised to smell humans on the breeze. He was only seven and super curious so he followed his nose down the lane.

He really couldn’t help it. One of the humans was around his age and had the best scent _ever_.

Derek _needed_ to see the boy who smelled like bright laughter and enthusiasm and awesome.

The boy had brown hair and almost beta golden eyes. Moles and freckles everywhere.

Derek stopped when he realized he was _right in front_ of the other boy. He honestly hadn’t meant to get this close.

“Hi,” he said breathlessly, “My name is Derek. We’re neighbours.”

The boy kind of twitched/flailed, “I’m Mischief. Well, okay, my name isn’t actually Mischief but I don’t know how to say my name so I can’t tell you. Maybe I’ll get my mom to tell you later. Mischief kind of sounds like my name and my dad usually says it suits me better but I don’t understand why. Adults are weird like that. You want to play? Will you be my friend? We just moved here and I don’t have any friends.”

Derek was in awe. That had been a _lot_ of words.

“You have the best smell. It means we have to be friends,” Derek said earnestly.

“I do? My dad usually tells me I’m a stinky boy and that’s why I have to take a bath every day,” Stiles replied.

Derek decided to just give into his instincts and hugged Stiles, rubbing his face on Stiles’ neck.

* * *

### Childhood Friends

Stiles thought that Derek really was the bestest friend he could have.

Not only was he an awesome werewolf with superpowers, but he _liked_ Stiles. He didn’t think Stiles was annoying like everyone had where he used to live. He would sit and play and listen to Stiles talk for _hours_.

Not even his dad would do that!

He also gave the _best_ hugs.

Also a lot of hugs.

Stiles had asked if it was a werewolf thing and Derek had solemnly nodded.

Apparently it was a Very Important werewolf thing.

Starting at school with a best friend in the grade above also made him look _super_ cool.

One kid had started teasing him about being new but then Derek showed up and growled. The kid stopped and ran away crying.

It was awesome.

Derek had dorky teeth so Stiles figured it must be the eyebrows.

* * *

### Full-shift Werewolves

Derek had a surprise for Stiles. He was going to be _so_ surprised.

He’d been practising the full-shift for the past year. His mom could do it and so could Laura. Laura liked to tease him about it so he’d been working on it because she was _not_ better than him.

Turning into an actual wolf was rare and his family was special for having the ability.

He wanted to make his mom proud.

He also wanted to be able to stalk and pounce on Stiles.

Which is what he was doing right now.

Stalking Stiles through the forest waiting for _just_ the right moment to pounce on him.

Stiles entered the clearing they usually played in and Derek _pounced_.

Stiles screamed and flailed until he noticed that Derek was only licking his face.

“Gross! You better watch out, Derek doesn’t like it when I smell like dog,” Stiles was trying to wiggle away from him.

Derek wouldn’t let his prey go! So he growled and flashed his eyes.

Stiles stopped wiggling, “Derek? Is that you?”

He sounded amazed. And he should be! Derek was a Hale and, thus, super awesome.

Derek shifted so he could talk, “I totally got you. I hunted you down and now you’re totally mine.”

“Oh my god! You are seriously the coolest. I didn’t know werewolves could turn into actual wolves,” Stiles gushed.

“It’s a Hale thing,” Derek said proudly.

They played in the field for a few hours and it was _awesome_.

* * *

### Season + Pirates

Stiles’ favourite season had just started and he was already planning his Halloween costume.

But fall wasn’t just about Halloween. He loved not being so hot after the summer. Liked the falling leaves.

He also – Derek thought he was a total freak for it – loved going back to school.

(There were just so many cool things to _learn_.)

“We’re going to be pirates for Halloween this year,” he declared.

Derek shrugged, “Okay.”

“Awesome! I’m going to have an eyepatch and sword and everything. You’re going to have to be the princess,” Stiles said.

“Why do I have to be the princess? Why is there even a princess?” Derek protested.

“You know, like the ‘Princess Bride’. I’ll be like Wesley and you’ll be Buttercup,” Stiles explained.

“I’m older, I should be Wesley,” Derek argued.

“You’re prettier, so you have to be Buttercup.”

Derek blushed and grumbled, “Your face is pretty.”

“Oh, sick burn,” Stiles laughed.

* * *

### Ice + Self Defense

Derek walked into his house and immediately smelled Stiles’ pain. He burst into the kitchen to see him holding a bag of ice to his swelling eye.

An eye that was going to be black in the morning.

It had his eyes flashing and him growling low in his throat, “What happened? Who did this?”

“Woah, cool it, big guy. It was just Jackson. And, no, that’s not an invitation for you to kick his ass. I can protect myself,” Stiles levelled his fiercest glare on Derek.

“If you can protect yourself, why do you have a black eye?” Derek growled.

“This is nothing, you should see him,” Stiles’ smile was vicious and Derek kind of liked it.

A lot.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, man. My dad makes me take self-defence classes every so often. Learn new things and make sure I can handle myself. I might be human but I’m not weak,” Stiles was smug as shit.

Derek also liked that.

“I don’t think you’re weak. But pack is supposed to have each other’s back. We’re stronger together,” Derek said.

Stiles blushed, “You think I’m pack?”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Of course you are. Even my mom has said so.”

“It’s true! You’re my little cubs and I’ll never let you go!” his mom called out from the other room.

“Mom! You make it sound so creepy,” Derek complained.

“Never letting you go!” she cackled.

Derek and Stiles exchanged a look. But Stiles’ scent was so very pleased and sweet with warmth.

* * *

### Overworked + Baking

It was his birthday and he was pretty sure his dad had forgotten.

Stiles’ dad was always complaining about being overworked. It was kind of true. He was the sheriff and worked a lot.

It was good that the Hales loved him because it meant he could hang out with them instead of needing a babysitter.

The first few birthdays his dad missed because he was always at work had really sucked. He’d spent most of the time crying.

This year, he decided he’d had enough and was going to bake a cake.

He refused to do another birthday without cake.

They’d moved to Beacon Hills after his mom died, so no one here knew when his birthday was. He’d never told anyone.

Stiles had been hoping his dad would plan a surprise party.

Derek burst into the kitchen, almost making Stiles spill the sugar, “Why didn’t you come to my place after school like you normally do?”

“I’m baking a cake!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Do that later! You need to come over now,” Derek told him.

Normally Stiles kind of liked it when Derek was bossy but not today. Today was _his_ day.

“I’ll come after I’m done. Go away,” he didn’t want to cry.

“I’m not supposed to say anything but you smell sad. My family planned a surprise party for your birthday. My mom baked you a cake and everything,” Derek said.

If Derek had been trying to stop Stiles from crying, he failed. At least these were happy tears.

* * *

### Mad Science

The beaker in front of Stiles was slowly turning bright green. Perfect.

“What are you doing?” Derek asked from the doorway.

Stiles startled and flailed, almost knocking the beaker over.

“Derek!” he hissed/shouted, “Don’t sneak up on me when I’m doing science.”

“What kind of science, exactly, are you doing?” Derek asked. His eyebrows were doing that arch thing that irritated Stiles because he was being judged.

“The best kind, obviously,” Stiles sniffed.

 _“Stiles,”_ Derek growled.

“Fine. It’s mad science! I’m getting a head start on my future as a villain. Thus, I’m seeing if mad scientist is the way for me to go – since I don’t have superpowers,” Stiles explained.

“And what is this experiment supposed to do?” Derek wondered.

“I’m hoping to create an evil compound that’ll make all of Jackson’s hair fall out,” Stiles practiced his evil laugh.

Derek sighed, “Do you need help?”

“You want to be my minion?” Stiles’ eyes went shiny, he was so touched.

“No. I want to make sure you don’t blow yourself up,” Derek replied.

Stiles flailed in indignation, accidentally spilling the beaker on himself.

All of his hair fell out.

They both just gaped for long moments.

Stiles hadn’t expected it to work – even though he _was_ extra awesome. He’d literally put green food colouring into water.

This is how Stiles found out that he’s kind of magic.

* * *

### AI

Derek was listening – again – to Stiles wax eloquently about Artificial Intelligence and how cool the future was going to be.

He read too many comic books.

“You know that true artificial intelligence is impossible with our current technology, right?” Derek idly asked.

Stiles sputtered, “Well, yeah. Obviously. But it’ll be possible in the future!”

“Probably not,” Derek said.

“Oh? What makes you so sure of that, huh?” Stiles challenged.

“Unless we radically change how we build computers and write programs, it isn’t possible. All we’ll ever get are programs that rely on faster and faster processing to run huge amounts of data and complex algorithms. No matter how fast the processing or complex the algorithm, our current understanding of computers and computation will never be able to approximate the sentience of a mouse, much less that of a human,” Derek said.

“That’s some pretty big talk,” Stiles scoffed.

“Look. Our current methods of computation – up to and including how we build the hardware – depend on classical, mathematical logic. While it’s true that logic was developed and explored as a way to model how people _should_ think, it doesn’t even come close to representing how humans _actually_ think. It’s impossible to reproduce most human thinking in a computer program. Take something as basic as metaphor. How do we determine the truth or falseness of a metaphor? And we _have_ to if we want to represent it in binary…” Derek was going to continue but couldn’t on account that Stiles’ mouth was on his mouth.

It was surprising but so very welcome. He’d been wanting this for a while. Waiting and hoping that Stiles would too.

He might only be fifteen and Stiles fourteen, but he already knew Stiles was his mate.

“Oh my god. You’re such an incredible nerd,” Stiles gasped, “It’s so fucking hot. I can’t even…” he trailed off as he pressed more kisses on Derek.

Derek laughed and it was probably the best day of his life.

* * *

### Fashion

When some of Stiles’ friends found out that he and Derek were (finally) dating, they insisted he needed to go shopping with them.

Apparently, now that he was ‘gay’ he had to dress better. Especially if he wanted to keep the hottest guy in school.

He hadn’t gone shopping.

Stiles had yelled instead.

He was neither stupid nor did he lack eyes. He was well aware that what he wore wasn’t _in style_.

Thing is, Stiles doesn’t _care_. He will not change his clothes so that he meets some stereotypical notion of ‘gay’ – and he’s not even sure he _is_ gay or if he’s something else – because he _likes_ his clothes. He likes the way he dresses.

He doesn’t go straight to Derek’s like he normally does after school. He’s too mad.

Of course, all this means is that it takes about fifteen minutes for Derek to track him down.

“What’s wrong?” he demands. Because Derek doesn’t know how to show concern without being aggressive about it.

“Do you think I’m hot?” Stiles asks.

Derek looks baffled, “Yes…? I wouldn’t make out with you if I didn’t.”

“Even though I have terrible taste in fashion?” Stiles asks.

Derek scoffs, “Like I care about fashion.”

Well, Derek _is_ right about how much he cares about fashion. This is the guy who basically buys his shirts in packages of threes. He only has t-shirts and henleys. In about three colours. That’s it. Mostly black. With either blue or black jeans. Utilitarian black workboots.

Sure, he looks _hot_ in it but… it isn’t the height of fashion.

Stiles smiles because Derek really is the best.

* * *

### Petnames

“Hey, boo,” Stiles said as he walked up to Derek.

“No.”

“Oh, come on! That’s a classic pet name!” Stiles exclaimed.

“No, Stiles. Just… no,” Derek said.

“Don’t be such a sourwolf,” Stiles grumbled.

Derek leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

“Oh my, god! That’s the perfect one, _sourwolf_ ,” Stiles shouted in glee.

“Stiles… why do you need a petname _at all?_ ” Derek groaned.

“Because it’s sweet and romantic? Obviously,” Stiles thought Derek could be really dense sometimes, “I could live with babe, if you want.”

“I will _never_ call you babe. Or baby. Or any other pet name. If you want me to use a special name, how about Mieczyslaw?” Derek asked with a sly grin.

“Who told you my name!? And, absolutely _not_. Under no circumstances are you to use that. At least not in front of other people. If you want, you can use Mischief. Or nothing, I won’t push,” Stiles said.

“Pet names aren’t for me, Mischief. But I’ll tolerate sourwolf,” Derek grudgingly agreed.

“Deal! Shake on it,” Stiles held out his hand so they could seal the agreement like gentlemen.

* * *

### Madness

“It’s madness I tell you! Sheer madness!” Stiles yelled as he burst into Derek’s room.

Derek rolled his eyes, “What is?”

Over the years, Derek had become quite used to the fact that his mate was a drama queen of the highest order.

“My dad keeps insisting that I seriously consider other colleges. Like, obviously I’m going to apply but if I get into Berkeley, I’m going. It’s where you’ll be!” Stiles flopped onto Derek’s bed.

Derek, for his part, _was_ actually alarmed, “Why does he want you to consider going somewhere else?”

“He has this whole thing about me getting the full college experience. Dorms, partying, and _not_ living in off-campus with my boyfriend,” Stiles complains.

Derek feels like he can’t _breathe_ because they’d made _plans_.

Stiles looks over, "Oh my, god! Stop freaking out. I’m applying to other schools only because I can’t put all of my eggs in one basket. But all the other schools are in the Bay Area. No matter what happens, we’ll be together.

“I told my dad that the college experience he’s talking about only exists in the movies. Or for rich people. Even if I have a scholarship, I’ll probably need a job. Even if I don’t – yes, I can see you tensing up to insist that you have money and I won’t need to work – having a scholarship means maintaining a certain GPA. I have ADHD! Shit like this is _harder_ for me as it is. I don’t _want_ to live in the same room as a stranger. College movies make me shudder in horror. I wouldn’t want that even if we weren’t together.”

Derek is _relieved_.

But he’s also a little turned on. Stiles’ ranting kind of has that effect on him. He flails around and is so _passionate_. His scent is _delicious_ in these moments.

He decides all of this deserves a celebratory blowjob.

* * *

### Penpal

Dear Sourest of Wolves,

I spend days sitting at the window watching the rainfall. I wonder, “When will my sourwolf return from the war?”.

I long for thee, my love.

With all my love,

Stiles

**+**

Stiles,

Why are you writing me letters?

– Derek

**+**

My dearest beloved,

I wish I could express the joy I felt at your letter. To know that I haven’t left your thoughts in this time of darkness. That I am the light that keeps your hope burning.

The light that shall guide you home to me.

Please know that my thoughts are always with you.

With all my love,

Stiles

**+**

You are the single most ridiculous human being alive.

I love you.

– Derek

**+**

My heart,

It feels as though I’m in a dream. That you are so able to openly express your love for me, despite the war and social rules that force us apart.

It cannot be real.

The only way I know that I’m awake is the pain of your absence.

I will always wait for you.

With all my love,

Stiles

**+**

I’m coming to visit next weekend.

You’ve been warned.

– Derek

* * *

### Matchmaking

Derek was becoming aggravated by his college friends. The wait for Stiles’ graduation when they’d be able to live together felt endless.

The problem with his friends – and he was seriously rethinking their presence in his life – was that they didn’t believe he had a boyfriend. As a result, they’d started matchmaking.

He’d show up for an activity only to realize it was all couples, plus one person who just so happened to be single. Or he’d set up a time to meet a friend at a coffee shop, only for a blind date to show up.

Derek was glad that he had no issues being rude. Whenever this happened, he just left. He didn’t care enough about these people to sit through some awkward date when he already had the love of his life.

Fortunately, Stiles was finally eighteen, had a free weekend, and was coming to visit. Stiles’ dad hadn’t allowed Stiles to visit Derek at college.

But Stiles was eighteen now and could do what he wanted.

Derek was too focused on the nearing heartbeat to realize that some of his friends were walking up.

“Hey, Derek. So I met this girl in my class and I think you’d really like her,” Mike started.

Derek was barely listening, “Go away, Mike. Stiles is almost here and my patience with the matchmaking is officially gone. I don’t need friends like you, so fuck off.”

Derek braced himself as he saw Stiles start running towards him. He lept into his arms and Derek caught him with ease. They kissed and Derek vigorously scent marked his neck.

He could make new friends but there was only one Stiles.

* * *

### Nightclub + Fake Relationship

Stiles had been in the club for maybe half an hour waiting for Derek. He was having fun and dancing.

Except that this guy would _not_ leave him alone. Even though Stiles had told him he was taken.

As soon as he saw Derek he made a beeline, “Quick, Derek, pretend to be my boyfriend. This guy will _not_ leave me alone!”

Derek gave him the side-eye, “Stiles. I _am_ your boyfriend. I don’t need to pretend.”

“Wait, so you _won’t_ pretend to be my boyfriend to save me from some creeper?” Stiles was affronted, because how _dare_ he?

“It doesn’t matter! Because I’m your actual boyfriend,” Derek sounded exasperated.

“That doesn’t answer my question. Would you pretend to be my boyfriend to get rid of a creeper? It’s a yes or no question, Derek,” Stiles said with narrowed eyes.

“You are honestly the most aggravating human on this planet,” Derek grumbled, “Fine! Yes, okay? I’d pretend to be your boyfriend. Except that I don’t have to because we _are_ boyfriends!”

“You don’t have to get so snippy. I just wanted to know. Just in case. For future reference. But, um, we totally need to get rid of this creeper,” Stiles said.

Derek growled and pulled him in for a kiss.

Stiles thought he had seducing Derek down to an art.

* * *

### Pride

Derek was excited because Stiles was excited. He’d held off on going to Pride in San Francisco until Stiles could join him at Berkeley. He’d wanted his first experience to be with Stiles.

Because everything was better when he shared it with Stiles.

His senses were a little overloaded from all the noise and scents. He could deal, though, with Stiles in his arms. Heartbeat fast and scent sweet with excitement and joy.

A part of him didn’t really understand the whole thing. Pride was mostly a human thing since wolves really didn’t care about that sort of thing.

Your mate was your mate.

But it mattered to Stiles. He was in touch with the world so he knew that sexuality and such continued to be a source of oppression. Most of all, he _was_ proud to be with Stiles.

After all, his mate was the best.

So he’d happily preen and display his superiority.

“Oh my god. You’re being smug again. I can feel it radiating off of you,” Stiles said without turning around.

“Not my fault you’re the best. You only have yourself to blame,” Derek shrugged.

“You’re the worst,” Stiles grumbled with obvious pleasure.

* * *

### Turning

“Do you want to be turned?” Derek asked.

Stiles was surprised. It’d never come up before, “No? I don’t think so. Having magic is enough but…” he didn’t know how to finish his thought.

“I’m just curious. I think you’re awesome,” Derek said.

“I am awesome, aren’t I? Not sure the world could handle it if I became _more_ awesome,” Stiles declared.

“That’s true. The world probably can’t handle the epic awesomeness of a werewolf Stiles,” Derek said.

“You know, if you were anyone else, I’d think you were mocking me,” Stiles said.

Except he _knew_ that Derek wasn’t joking.

In all the years they’ve known each other, not once has Derek made him feel anything less than awesome.

It was why he didn’t get his dad’s insistence of having a ‘normal’ college experience. Especially when his dad _liked_ Derek.

* * *

### Insomnia

Stiles wasn’t sleeping. Hadn’t been sleeping for _days_ now.

He couldn’t even really say _why_. Derek was warm and cuddled up close. They were living in their off-campus apartment. College was good. A lot of work, but good.

Everything was good.

Except he couldn’t _sleep_.

He felt Derek kiss the back of his neck, “Can’t sleep?”

“No! It’s been _days_ , Derek. Why is this happening?” Stiles whined.

“Have you considered that drinking a bucket of coffee and three red bulls a day _might_ have something to do with it?” Derek dryly asked.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Stiles sniffed.

Derek just hummed and trailed kisses across Stiles’ shoulder.

“Okay, fine. You _might_ have a point. But I can’t do things if I’m sleeping all the time,” Stiles argued.

“Things?”

“And stuff!”

“True. It’d be a shame to miss out on all the things and stuff you’re doing instead of sleeping,” Derek started grinding his hips.

“You’re a jerk and I don’t like you,” Stiles said as he rolled over to kiss Derek.

* * *

### Arranged Marriage

Derek slammed into the apartment he shared with Stiles, “My parents told me that they arranged a marriage for me when I was a kid! And now that I’ve finished college, it’s time to start planning the wedding.”

He felt panicked because Stiles was his _mate_ and he didn’t want to marry some random person.

“Excuse me?” Stiles demanded.

“They arranged a marriage for me and I have to get married in a year. They asked me what I wanted for my _wedding colours_ , Stiles,” was Derek yelling? Maybe. Probably.

“Oh, hell no! Let me put my shoes on. We’re going to city hall so I can put a ring on you. Because I’ll be _damned_ if some hussy tries to marry you,” Stiles scrambled for his shoes.

Derek’s mate was a _genius_.

Also very pretty and very awesome.

As soon as Stiles had his shoes on, Derek grabbed his hand and dragged him out of their apartment.

A few hours later Derek had a mate _and_ a husband.

Neither of them cared about the husband part except for how it ensured that Derek didn’t have to marry a stranger.

When they got home, there was a message from Derek’s parents. Derek had fled in a panic as soon as he’d heard the words ‘arranged marriage’ leave his parents’ lips.

Turns out that they’d arranged for him to marry _Stiles_.

* * *

### Wedding

The biggest problem with unintentionally eloping with your betrothed, Stiles thought, was the fact that your parents still insisted on having a big wedding.

He had absolutely _zero_ desire to do a whole big wedding thing. He hadn’t wanted to get married _at all_. Stiles didn’t believe in marriage and thought it was unnecessary when mating was considered equivalent in human law.

He and Derek weren’t doing a great job of convincing their parents to drop the whole wedding thing. Mostly because they weren’t _listening_.

It was super frustrating.

Not as frustrating as them arranging a marriage in the first place because _what the fuck?_ Who even does that?

(It did explain his dad’s insistence on him having a ‘normal’ college experience.)

So the wedding planning went full steam ahead without their input since they refused to engage.

As the date crept closer, Stiles got a brilliant idea, “Hey, Derek? You know, I’ve always wanted to travel. Experience the Great American Road Trip. It just so happens that I have a block of free time coming up…”

Stiles saw the realization brighten Derek’s eyes and they crinkled in a _very_ attractive way.

“You know, Stiles? That sounds like a great idea. You want to go somewhere in particular?” Derek asked.

Stiles shrugged, “Doesn’t matter. Let’s see where the road takes us.”

* * *

### Travel

_“Stiles”_

“What? I can’t find a radio station I like.”

“If you don’t stop playing with the radio, I’ll rip your throat out. With my _teeth_.”

“As if. Don’t be such a sourwolf.”

**+**

“We stopped an hour ago, Derek! How is it that you need to pee _again_?”

“You know I like to stay well-hydrated.”

“What does that have to do with your abnormally tiny bladder?”

**+**

“Who’s idea was it to try camping?”

“Yours, Stiles. This was your idea. You did this and I’m regretting all of my life choices.”

“As my mate and husband, my eternal boo, I demand you shift and be my soft, fluffy pillow.”

“Fine. But only because sleeping on the ground is a lot easier as a wolf.”

“Oh, please. You love wolf cuddles just as much as I do.”

“You can’t prove it and no one would believe you.”

**+**

“I know we did this to avoid the wedding but I’m really glad we did. I feel like it’s been forever since we got to spend time like this. With all the drama recently, I feel like I haven’t had the time to just _be_ with you and bask in how much I love you.”

“I love you too, Stiles. You’re all I need to be happy.”

* * *

### Hollywood

Derek thought his mate was a lying liar who lied. The first thing he wanted to do was go to Disneyland.

But first they stopped at the famous Hollywood sign to take a selfie to send to their parents. On their wedding day.

They’d both had their phones turned off to avoid dealing with the mess they’d left behind. They only turned them on long enough to send the selfie.

Derek would feel bad about the whole thing… except it all could’ve been avoided if their parents had just listened.

“You’re ridiculous and I adore you,” Derek told Stiles.

“ _How dare you?_ I accept your adoration but refute your claim that I’m ridiculous,” Stiles said while wearing mouse ears and sticking his tongue out at Derek, “Just because you’re a grumpy old man–”

“I’m not grumpy!”

“–doesn’t give you the right to rain on my parade. Let your inner child out and have some fun!”

* * *

### Deaged

Stiles should’ve remembered that sometimes his magic was wonky and would respond to his words in weird ways.

Like poofing his mate into a six-year-old after he told Derek to let his inner child out.

He was _deeply_ regretting his words now.

Because there was no horror greater than taking a child to Disneyland.

It was worse because he didn’t even _have_ a child. He certainly didn’t know how to take care of one.

So it was that he found himself searching for Derek. He’d looked away for _one_ second and Derek had disappeared.

He swore to god that he was going to get one of those harness/leash things. Derek would kick his ass when he returned to his normal age but it’d be worth it.

This was _terrifying_.

* * *

### Mistaken Identity

Derek had seen a pretty flower that he wanted to get Stiles but after he’d grabbed it, he couldn’t find him anymore.

Everything was so loud and noisy. There were _so many_ people. He was having trouble focusing on Stiles’ scent.

Wait, was that him?

Derek ran up to the man and pulled at his sleeve, “Stiles?”

The man turned to look at him but it wasn’t Stiles. It made Derek want to cry.

“Hi! Are you lost?” the man knelt so Derek could look him in the eye.

He nodded and a few tears escaped, “I can’t find my Stiles.”

“Would you like to come with me to security? They can call your dad,” the man offered.

“He’s not my dad,” Derek pouted, “He’s my _Stiles_.”

The man chuckled, “Okay. Let’s see if we can find your Stiles.”

* * *

### Reconnection

When Stiles heard the page, he almost went boneless with relief.

He ran to the security office where Derek was, desperate to see him and make sure he was safe.

The moment Derek saw him, he ran to Stiles and jumped into his arms, nearly plowing Stiles over.

He didn’t care, just clutched Derek tightly, “I’m so sorry. You’re not a grumpy old man and I love you just the way you are.”

 _Then_ he fell over because his arms were suddenly full with a 200lbs werewolf.

“I’d kill you but I’m too happy to see you,” Derek growled.

Someone coughed nearby, “Well… I’m glad you found your Stiles.”

Stiles watched as Derek blushed.

“Um, thanks. For helping me find him. Sorry for wasting your time,” Derek said.

“It’s okay. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this charming reunion. I will get back to my husband and kids, though. Enjoy the rest of your time here,” the man smiled and walked away.

Stiles was _super_ grateful so he sent a little good luck charm in the man’s direction.

* * *

### Ever After

There was some fallout, of course. Ditching the elaborate and expensive wedding your parents threw was bound to get disappointed looks.

They shrugged it off. The wedding had been their parent’s idea and none of them had listened when they’d said they didn’t want to do it.

It’d been hard finally getting their parents to understand that while they were young, they were _adults_ who could and would make their own choices.

There’d been tears but it had all ended in hugs.

It wasn’t the last of their adventures together.

**Author's Note:**

> I seriously have a *lot* of opinions about the feasibility of Artificial Intelligence, so I totally used Derek as a way to get some of them out. Sorry not sorry.


End file.
